Play, sports and training apparatus

ABSTRACT

A highly elastic elongated connecting element is connected between two members, one of which is designed or provided with means adapted to accelerate the other member away from said one member. At least one of said members is resilient and capable of developing restoring forces and preferably capable of elastically yielding at least adjacent to a surface which is adapted to contact the other member. The connecting element is connected to the accelerating member by a swivel bearing.

United States Patent Pruss 1 Jan. 9, 1973 541 PLAY, SPORTS AND TRAINING 1,862,044 6 1932 White ..273/26 E APPARATUS 1,282,016 10/1918 Mcllenry ..273/97 R [76] Inventor: Gunther Manfred Wolfgang Pruss, FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS gz ggg gxzg 81 13 ch61 19,268 10/1895 Great Britain .273/97 A y 456,645 5/1949 Canada ..273/26 B [22] Filed: June 16, 1970 Primary Examiner-Richard C. Pinkham [211 App! 46753 Assistant Examiner-Theatrice Brown Attorney-Michael S. Striker [30] Foreign Application Priority Data [57] ABSTRACT June 16, 1969 Germany ..G 69 23 992.5 I

A highly elastic elongated connecting element is con- 52 US. Cl .273/29 A, 273/97 R, 273/26 E between two members, one of which is 51 1m. (:1. ..A63b 69/38 designed Provided with means adapted [58] Field of Search....273/26 E 73 97 R 95 A 200 calm the member away from Said One i 273; C member. At least one of said members is resilient and capable of developing restoring forces and preferably capable of elastically yielding at least adjacent to a [56] References cued surface which is adapted to contact the other member.

UNITED STATES ENT The connecting element is connected to the accelerating member by a swivel bearing. 2,110.084 3/1938 l-leimers .273/97 R 4 Claims, 1 Drawing Figure PATENTEQJAN 9 ms 3.709490 Inventor Gunner! Maren Pzus; By: maximal,

PLAY, SPORTS AND TRAINING APPARATUS The present invention relates to a play, sports and training apparatus for ball games of all kinds, such as are known in different forms. Many of such games are played as competitions, with or without judges, but in any case a player is not qualified to participate in such competitions unless he has had training for a considerable time to acquire the required skill. As ball games cannot be played without an opponent or an opponent team, who are called a pair when it consists of two opponents, when it is desired to avoid the use, for instance, of a solid wall for throwing back the ball because the use of such wall is fatiguing and boring, an opponent is also required for training purposes and in this case is called a trainer. In most cases, trainers are professionals so that the use of such trainer involves costs in addition to the costs required to procure the outfit required for the game. These costs of the trainer are considered unnecessary and burdensome.

It has already been attempted to eliminate this basic disadvantage of all ball games which require training or in which training is involved. A training apparatus for tennis has been developed which comprises a rubber line, which is connected at one end to a portable, heavy foot and terminates at the other end in a tennis ball. By means of the racket, the tennis ball can be accelerated away from the player so that so-called net balls, e.g., can be played in a continual succession when a certain skill has been acquired. Such net balls fly over a net stretched between the player and the opponent with a minimum distance between the ball and the top edge of the net. Because experience has shown that it is difficult for the opponent to intercept and return such net balls, such exercises will be facilitated by the use of the above-mentioned apparatus because the rubber line which has been lengthened by the accelerated tennis ball exerts on the latter a restoring force so that the ball is automatically retracted when it has terminated its movement and the ball finally comes back close to the player, who can now again hit the ball without need for unnecessary and inconvenient movements. On the other hand, the player must continually stoop and reerect himself. Besides, the foot, which is absent when two opponents are playing, is disturbing in the court. For these reasons, the above-mentioned proposal has not found widespread acceptance.

It is an object of the present invention so to design the play, sports and training apparatus that the need for unnecessary and inconvenient movements of the trainee is eliminated.

This object is accomplished by a play, sports and training apparatus which is characterized according to the invention by the provision of a highly elastic elongated connecting element between two members, one of which is designed or provided with means adapted to accelerate the other member away from said one member, at least one of said members being resilient and capable of developing restoring forces and being preferably capable of elastically yielding at least adjacent to a surface which is adapted to contact the .othcr member, and the connecting element being connected to the accelerating member by a swivel bearing.

The member which serves to accelerate the other member is designed to accelerate the other member if said accelerating member has a striking surface. A means provided on the accelerating member and serving to accelerate the other member may consist, e.g., of a throwing device.

In the simplest case, the highly elastic elongated connecting element consists of a connecting line, which is freely movable in three dimensions and has a finite length and is made of highly elastic materials, such as rubber or different elastomers, particularly of highly elastic plastics materials, such as synthetic resins.

An accelerating member comprising striking surfaces is known as a racket or bat for table tennis, baseball or the like. The members to be accelerated by being struck are known as baseballs, boccia balls, golf balls, hockey balls, cricket balls, croquet balls, polo balls, rounders balls, sling balls and soft solid balls as well as basketballs, fist balls, hand balls, push balls, rugby balls, tennis balls, table tennis balls, volleyballs and hollow water balls. This listing is not exhausting because it includes only balls which are known from known games and these balls may be modified in various respects and with a view to the special requirements of the present play, sports and training apparatus.

The swivel bearing consists in the simplest case of a ring, which is rotatably mounted in an annular groove of the handle of the accelerating member and which is provided with means for connection to the connecting element.

With the above-mentioned features, the apparatus can accomplish the object of the invention. Because the ball to be accelerated is directly connected by a rubber line to a striking implement, the degree of freedom provided for the striking implement by the length of the unstretched rubber line may be utilized to increase the distance between the striking implement and the ball when the latter has been thrown up before being struck so that the racket may be used for a very large strike whereas the position of the member which is to be accelerated is not affected before it is struck. On the other hand, a player who can move the striking implement through a particularly large distance in preparation for a strike may stretch the connecting element even before the strike because the ball when thrown upwardly before the strike has a sufficiently large inertia so that its position will not be changed by a fast initial stretching. The accelerations and the mass of the ball which has been struck impart such a momentum to the ball that although the movement of the ball is opposed by the work required to deform the connecting element the ball can reach even a very remote target. The ball ceases to move when the striking work and stretching work balance each other. The potential energy stored in the connecting element then becomes effective so that the ball is accelerated back toward the player. At the same time, the rubber line shortens to its unstretchedlength. The ball thus returns very close to the striking implement and is ready for the next strike and can be used by the player without need for unnecessary movements of the feet or body of the player. It will be understood that the length and cross-section of the rubber line and the mass of the ball as well as the unstretched length of the connecting element between the striking implement and the ball must be matched so as to enable the performance of a succession of blows in a number which depends on the capability of the trainee. The swivel bearing is essential because in an apparatus in which the connecting means is secured to the striking implement without such swivel bearing the ball returning to the player would cause the connecting element to wrap around the striking implement once or several times and the ball might'hit the player himself so that players who wear glasses or who are highly short-sighted could suffer injury or a separation of the retina. Such results will be reliably prevented by the swivel bearing because even if a player cannot intercept the returning ball and strike it again, the ball will gyrate around the striking implement and owing to the drag will gradually lose its kinetic energy or will intercepted directly or by means of the connecting element and returned to its initial position.

The accompanying drawing shows an illustrative embodiment of the invention.

A conventional racket 1 comprises a handle 11, an annular groove 12, an oval hoop l3 and a usual grid 14 of strung catgut. The annular groove 12 receives a closed ring 2, which is provided with an eye 21, to which a rubber line 3 of finite length is connected. The rubber line may consist in the simplest case of a rubber cord but may also be embodied in other forms, e.g., in the form of a strong rubber filament in a toy, or in the form of braided cords in training implements. The rubber line 3 is connected to the ball member 4 which is to be accelerated. It has been explained hereinbefore what forms of balls may be employed. If the training apparatus comprises a racket l, the member 4 will suitably consist ofa tennis ball.

In view of what has been said hereinbefore, the ball 4 is first thrown upwardly in the use of the apparatus so that the ball can be struck immediately thereafter by the racket 1. All known stances maybe used in striking the ball, such as fore-hand strokes, back-hand strokes, half volley strokes, net ball strokes and smash strokes. This listing is not complete, The ball will always return to the player and be available for the next stroke.

The above remarks made in connection with tennis rackets and tennis balls are analogously applicable to any other known or unknown ball game. It is merely essential that the above-mentioned relations are such that the ball can be accelerated away from the player and automatically returns to the player so that the member to be accelerated can be accelerated again.

It is inherent in the nature of the invention that it is not restricted to the embodiment which has been illustrated by way of example. For instance, the invention is not restricted to members which are to be accelerated and consist of a sphere or ball nor to an accelerating member having a planar striking surface or the form of a club, nor to a connecting element consisting of rubber or elastomer. The connecting element may consist, e.g., of a tubular spring of spring steel in the form of a helically wound wire or ribbon. The accelerating member could consist, e.g., of a cross-bow, a blowgun, or a trap such as is used for clay pigeon-shooting. The member to be accelerated could consist of a shuttlecock, which is preferably weighted, e.g., with Plasticene modeling material, so that the target can be hit more accurately. The highly elastic connecting element may be connected by a carbine hook to the ac celerating member and the carbine hook is suitably rotatable about its longitudinal axis and may be articulatedly connected to a rotatable ring serving as a swivel bearing. It has also been found desirable to provide for the swivel bearing a degree of freedom in the longitudinal direction of the handle of the accelerating member. The movement which is permitted by this degree of freedom will reduce shocks, particularly if the handle is slightly tapered in conical form in said direction so that it can brake the axial movement of the swivel bearing.

What is claim ed is:

l. A play, sports and training device, comprising a first member; a second member having a handle, an annular frame portion and an elastically yieldable section mounted within the confines of said frame portion and being provided with a surface adapted to contact said first member in a sense accelerating the latter in a direction away from said second member; an elongated elastically extendable connecting element having one endportion connected to said first member, and an other endportion; and means movably connecting said other end portion with said handle.

2. A device as defined in claim I, wherein said connecting element is freely movable in three dimensions and composed of elastomeric material.

3. A device as defined in claim 1, wherein said handle is provided with a circumferential groove in the region of said surface, and wherein said means comprises a ring freely turnably accommodated in said groove and connected with said other endportion.

4. A device as defined in claim 1, said first member being a ball of elastically yieldable material. 

1. A play, sports and training device, comprising a first member; a second member having a handle, an annular frame portion and an elastically yieldable section mounted within the confines of said frame portion and being provided with a surface adapted to contact said first member in a sense accelerating the latter in a direction away from said second member; an elongated elastically extendable connecting element having one endportion connected to said first member, and an other endportion; and means movably connecting said other end portion with said handle.
 2. A device as defined in claim 1, wherein said connecting element is freely movable in three dimensions and composed of elastomeric material.
 3. A device as defined in claim 1, wherein said handle is provided with a circumferential groove in the region of said surface, and wherein said means comprises a ring freely turnably accommodated in said groove and connected with said other endportion.
 4. A device as defined in claim 1, said first member being a ball of elastically yieldable material. 